Diablo IV Launch Version Improves Dungeon Gameplay and Layouts, Tweaks Boss Difficulty for Melee Characters

Today, Blizzard unveiled the changes that will be making it into the launch version of Diablo IV after the evaluation of all the feedback gathered from the record-breaking beta weekends held last month on PC and consoles.

The first and most requested change by the community is the reduction in dungeon backtracking. The layouts of several dungeons have been optimized to lessen this tedious task and improve exploration. Additionally, to allow players to complete the ‘Kill All Monsters’ objective, small groups of monsters will now seek out the group instead of being tucked away in some faraway corner.

The key objectives featured in dungeons have also had their mechanics improved. For example, carrying an item that needs to be put on a pedestal to open a certain door will now provide a movement buff to the player, and channel time interactions with these items have been reduced or outright eliminated. On the other hand, structure objectives found in dungeons have been upgraded to feature additional combat mechanics. Lastly for the dungeon improvements, the likelihood of events spawning in a dungeon run has been increased from 10% in the beta to 60% in the launch version of Diablo IV. Similarly, cellars (the short dungeon-like type of content found in cantinas) will also spawn events more frequently.

Boss fights have had their difficulty tweaked for melee playstyles, which were quite disadvantaged in the beta compared to ranged playstyles. Blizzard tweaked a lot of spells and skills, as you’d expect. For instance, Stun and Freeze conditions will affect elite monsters for twice the duration before they become immune (Unstoppable) for a while.

In terms of class balance, the Barbarian has received a 10% passive damage reduction and has had its Whirlwind skill deal increased damage (but also cost more Fury); the Druid’s companion skills will deal a lot more damage, and all of its Ultimate skills have shorter cooldowns; the Necromancer’s minions will die more often and the damage inflicted by the Corpse Explosion skill has been decreased, but on the other hand, bonuses in the Book of the Dead have been increased; the Rogue received upgraded bonuses for multiple passives and also for Subterfuge skills, though Imbuement skills will take longer to recharge; lastly, the Sorcerer’s Chain Lightning had its damage decreased, but the opposite happened to its Charged Bolt spell.

As a reminder, Diablo IV will be available from June 6th, though pre-orders customers can get in four days earlier than that. Check out our Diablo IV endgame interview if you haven’t already.